Triple Layer Delight

Two Yankee Swap parties in one day is pretty draining. The first one is an annual ladies Yankee swap we have every year. This year 56 women participated. Yes, 56. It takes about two hours to go through everyone. I was going to make a trifle, but then happened to stumble upon a recipe that looked good on Pinterest. For the night swap party, I made my shepherd's pie, but mixed the gravy in with the meat before baking it. Everyone loved it, but I think it's better with the gravy on top, it didn't have as strong a taste when mixed in with the meat. Yesterday was a good day for cooking, and a good day for a midday nap, which I fully took advantage of.

I just finished making my shrimp and corn chowder for dinner tonight. I really should re-post the recipe sometime. The one I originally posted (follow that link!), is for one that I made with chicken and shrimp, and only made a quick reference to adding in the shrimp. I've modified and adapted this recipe a few times, between the veggies I've used, the spices I've used, and today I swapped out the veggie broth for chicken broth. Not to experiment, but because I forgot to buy veggie broth. I think it came out pretty good. It adds another bit of flavor that veggie broth tends to leave out. I find veggie broth to be pretty bland most of the time.

Before you attempt to make today's featured recipe, make sure you pay attention to the size package of pudding you need. I point that out because I didn't pay attention. I had planned on making two of these dishes, but then realized I bought the smaller packages. Luckily my mum came to the rescue with extra pudding, but then as I kept re-reading the recipe, I realized I was going to need the double batch ingredients for one batch. So annoying! Hence me making a shepherd's pie this weekend also. I used a 9 x 13 dish, so the recipe that follows is the recipe I used. I even think that more is needed, the layers were somewhat thin. If you want thicker layers of pudding, double what I used, other than the cheesecake layer, I already doubled that. The original recipe calls this chocolate delight, but it's a layer of cheesecake filling, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding and cool whip. The chocolate is only one-third of the dish. So, I took upon myself to rename it.

Triple Layer Delight
Adapted from Little B Cooks

For the crust:
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, melted

For the layers:
1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding
1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding
4 cups of milk for making the pudding
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 packages of cool whip (you will need 2 cups for the cheesecake and 1 pkg for the top)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, flour and butter together until combined (to really mix them well, throw everything into a food processor) and press into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13" glass baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool.
3. Prepare the puddings according to the package directions and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
4. Once the crust is completely cooled, prepare the cheesecake filling.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined and smooth on medium speed. Add in the cool whip on low speed and mix until combined.
6. To assemble, spread the cheesecake over the graham cracker crust. Then, spread the vanilla pudding over the cheesecake. Next, spread the chocolate pudding on top. Last, layer 1 package of cool whip on top. I also topped mine with crushed candy canes

** Remember, for thicker layers, double the pudding recipes, not the cheesecake recipe!

I forgot to take a picture when it was finished and pretty. Here's a low-quality picture of it half eaten with the candy canes melting into the cool whip...lovely, I know.